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New beekeeper here! Help overwintering a weak hive in Boston?

Hi everyone! I just started a hive in May, with a nucleus, and I think the queen died at some point. I was a somewhat neglectful beekeeper, as the person who was meant to help me disappeared and I was skittish. We have a queen now, but I think she's new. As a result, the bees haven't built out very much, and are really only filling a single hive body / deep. They don't have nearly enough honey to survive the winter.

I've been advised to keep feeding them 2:1 sugar syrup through the winter with our hive top feeder; it's the type they can climb up into without leaving the hive at all. It's also been suggested that we shelter the hive in a small shed rather than leaving them to the elements. But I also recently read that they won't eat from a hive top feeder in the winter once they've clustered.

Re: New beekeeper here! Help overwintering a weak hive in Boston?

Kamela,
You can feed 2:1 syrup as long as the temperatures remain above 50 deg, at 50 and below the bees start to cluster and will not take syrup. For a future reference fall feeding if needed should start in September in your neck of the woods, however at this point in time if you can see some good weather ahead on the long range forecast then keep the syrup on the hive and let them take as much as they can. If your weather is starting to turn off cold it would be best to remove the feeder and place granulated sugar on the hive, this is done by placing a couple of pieces of newspaper on the top of the frames then pouring a bag of granulated sugar on the newspaper, if you have an inner cover place it back on the hive with the deep side down to provide a little more room for the sugar and you will need to check on them from time to time during the winter when the weather permits and add sugar as needed. This sugar provides an added benefit of absorbing moisture in the hive.
The suggestion of moving them to a shed is a good idea but I would wait till the temperatures drop into the twenty range and stays there for a number of days or your forage bees will return to the original location where the hive used to be. Bees have about a three day memory so if the cold keeps them in for at least that long of a time they will reorient to the new location. There are methods of placing tree branches and so forth in front of the entrance to force them to reorient to the new location but I would suggest to just wait till it gets colder.

Re: New beekeeper here! Help overwintering a weak hive in Boston?

Hi .. I wintered some weak hives last yr that turned out very well this season . Some where nucs and some 10 frames deeps and meds. I took a piece of foundation paper and layed it on top of the frames , poured cane sugar on the paper. I added another level with undrawn foundation, one frame feeder with sugar in that. The hives were wrapped with foam board insulation. The extra box lets me check the sugar on nice days with out disturbing the bees too much. Here's a link from my bud down the street . http://stewartfarm.org/bees.php . A couple of points , the insulation he used was left from his remodel, priced out its expensive if you have a lot of hives. I use a smaller thickness (keep it clean) due to costs. When we did the math on the r value it wasn't that great on the smaller sizes but a wind block and a well sealed wall goes along way . GL

Re: New beekeeper here! Help overwintering a weak hive in Boston?

Kamela,
We have 4 pound bags here where I live, however just pour in the amount that it takes to fill the space, it also helps to spray the sugar with just a little bit of water to help it solidify somewhat as you are pouring it in, it stays put better this way, otherwise when the bees chew a hole through the paper some of the sugar will end up on the bottom board.

Please keep in mind that bees do not sleep, if a hive is disturbed after dark the bees will still attack even when the temperature is in the thirty's. In any move whether during the day or at night you must block the entrance during the move.

The bees orient to the hive with both queen pheromone and hive location, as field bees return to the location of the hive and land at the entrance you will often see the guard bees come charging up to check out their smell, but the field bees found their way back through remembrance of location.

Yes the bees will definitely need to have a way out of the shed because on warm days they not only go on cleansing flights but gather water as needed, and in late winter and on warm days you will see them bringing in some pollen as well.

I hope this helps you, If you moved the hive when the temperatures are in the twenty's or even the thirty's you should have little trouble but do close the entrance during the move .

Re: New beekeeper here! Help overwintering a weak hive in Boston?

It might be just as well if they are wrapped and left outside, especially if they are wrapped in felt tar paper and are in a place where the sun will shine on the hive, I just figured that you needed them inside for some reason. A wind block would be a good idea as well.